Reminisce
by Lady Maeror
Summary: They had changed, especially since they embraced the world instead of hiding from it. But one innocent question leads to the twins delving back into old memories and having the chance to confront the person who caused it all. R&R. No Flames.
1. Then and Now

**Warning:**

Spoilers for anime and perhaps the manga.

**Disclaimer:**

I don't own Ouran or the characters, or anything, really. Disclaimer for whole story.

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**|| Reminisce ||**

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**Author's Note:**

I am in love with the twins, can't stop writing about em. So this is my little fic post-anime.

I was moved at how much that maid influenced their lives, especially since they were children, and how far they had come.

Can't seem to find the same idea on the archive, so sorry if it seems like I'm taking someone else's.

Hikaru/Kaoru brotherly friendship, some bits _could_ be taken as romance, but it's not intended that way.

**Don't wanna see flames, reviews are nice and I can deal with constructive criticism :)**

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**01 - Then and Now**

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One long sigh escaped Hikaru's lips as he leant against the wall of Music Room#3.

"Why are we here?" He drawled, turning to face his brother and companion, who were also resting against the wall.

Haruhi gave him a bored expression and ignored his question, while Kaoru shrugged.

"Well, the boss didn't know if he could make it tonight after his mock-exam. So we're waiting." He explained, mostly for the benefit of his brother.

"Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai aren't coming to this meeting, so if they _do_ turn up, it'll only be Kyoya-sempai and the boss. Hardly worth our time." Hikaru replied, closing his eyes briefly.

Kaoru and Haruhi exchanged glances.

She wanted to point out that they shouldn't learn to become bored so easily, but already knew how both of them would reply.

"Look, we've only got to wait fifteen more minutes and then we can leave." The younger Hitachiin told his brother.

"An empty room and fifteen minutes to kill. What to do?" Hikaru mused, letting his eyes roam around the room.

"Well I have a question, actually." Haruhi sat up as she spoke so she could take in both the twins.

The elder raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Question?"

Kaoru sighed and subtly elbowed his brother and made a motion for Haruhi to continue.

"Yeah well, I've never gotten to ask you this, but I've been meaning to." She told them. "On the day we first met the members of the Zuka Club-," both twins couldn't hide their smirks, "Some girls in our class were talking to me about you guys."

"You mean when you were supposed to buy us the coffee?" Kaoru questioned.

Glaring, Haruhi's expression told him to not go any further with his point. "Yes, that day." She snapped. Despite being her closest friends, the twins still irritated her often. "Anyway, they said that before the Host Club, both of you weren't like you are now. Even the other Hosts have agreed at some point on this."

The brothers exchanged glances and then let their gazes fall to her. "So what is it you want to know?" They asked in unison.

Haruhi shifted so her legs weren't going numb beneath her and settled cross-legged before them.

"Well, for starters, why don't you tell me how you _used_ to be, seeing as it's such a big deal. I mean, I know you're both arrogant and mischievous, but the way everyone else tells it, you were much different." She sounded hesitant, wondering if she was stepping on dangerous ground. After all, the twins were noisy and loud and loved sharing their thoughts with her. She found it unusual that she knew barely anything on the issue, and wondered why.

Hikaru's eyes slid to his brother, silently willing him to speak for them both, or at least start it. He knew he wasn't the best at describing things the way they had been, Kaoru was more likely to recount it properly.

Kaoru let out a short breath and nodded. "Okay Haruhi, we'll tell you. We're not sure if this will make you feel any different about us, or even if it helps your question."

"You were _that_ bad?" She asked, frowning at both of them.

Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Believe me, we were worse than that."

Kaoru bowed his head so he could focus on his outstretched feet and avoid her gaze.

"We were terrible." He admitted. "For the most part, we liked to keep ourselves a part from everyone. I guess in a way, this meant when someone _did_ approach us, we were much colder and cruel."

"We wouldn't have minded what people thought, as long as they kept their distance. When they invaded, it was hard to stay reasonable. We weren't very good with dealing at emotions." Hikaru added.

"Well, _you_ aren't good at dealing with emotions Hikaru. I'm a bit better." Kaoru spoke up, his eyes dancing with mischief.

The elder brother snorted but couldn't help smiling. "Well we weren't two separate people, so your point doesn't count."

They laughed until they realised Haruhi was giving them a weird expression.

"What do you mean 'separate'?" She asked them.

"Eh, well it's probably easier for you if you don't know about that yet." Kaoru told her, a bit reluctantly. "Just, drop it for the moment." Hikaru encouraged.

Haruhi sat back and crossed her arms. "As long as you promise to tell me at some point."

Both twins nodded without so much as a glance between them.

"Right well, like we said, we preferred being alone. It was easy just to be on our own and not have to bother with others and feelings and emotions. You can guess why." The younger Hitachiin explained.

"Because you were always together." She stated.

"Right." They answered.

"Well at the end of our second year of middle school, we were invited to join the Host Club. I guess it was from there that we changed from who we were, to who we are now." Hikaru told her.

"Of course it was gradual, we didn't change overnight. Mostly we were bored and that's how we ended up here." Kaoru added.

Both twins looked at her expectantly.

"Wait, that's it?" Haruhi asked sceptically.

The brothers let slight smiles touch their faces. "No, we've barely touched the surface." Hikaru said quietly. "It's just easier to summarise that question." Kaoru finished.

Haruhi let a hand run through her hair and sighed. "Fair enough, you answered what I asked. But there was more to it. There must have been a reason for how you acted, and being alone isn't a bad thing, so I'm sure you're leaving out stuff there as well."

Both twins grinned, knowing she was much better at reading them then they originally thought.

"Yeah, well we _can_ tell you, if you want." Kaoru announced.

Just as she was about to agree and ask them to keep going, the sound of a door being opened alerted them all of other students.

Two tall figures strode into the room.

"Hey boss, Kyoya-sempai."The twins chorused and Haruhi added her own greeting as the two older boys walked in.

Tamaki looked a bit uncertain of himself, while Kyoya was paying close attention to his notebook, as usual.

"How'd the mock exam go?" Haruhi asked them.

"Fine." Kyoya answered, while the Prince collapsed to the floor and wailed his frustration. As Tamaki complained about the various questions he had no idea about, Kyoya adding in scoldings about how he should have studied more, the trio of second years couldn't help but smile.

Once he had recovered himself, Tamaki looked up as if to realise that he might have been interrupting something, despite their sketchy planned meeting.

"What have you guys been up to?" He asked curiously.

"Waiting for you, obviously." The twins replied automatically.

"Not much." Haruhi said; when the two older boys cast their gazes in her direction.

"Well then, let's discuss the coming party and the theme we should do." Tamaki announced, seemingly over his trouble in his exam, and turned away so they could centre themselves in the room, instead of the small corner they were in.

Hikaru and Kaoru hauled her up without warning and she would've protested, except for the fact that she made sure they heard her when she said, "We'll talk about this later."

Shaking their arms off her, she followed the Prince and the Shadow King obediently, while the twins cast each other doubtful expressions.

It seemed she was adamant about learning more about them.

They didn't know whether to be intrigued or wary.

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**A/N:**

I know it's brief, but it's just the introduction.

- Mae.


	2. One Person

**Author's Note:**

I'm sorry about swapping tenses, I can't help it. The books I mainly right about (RA) are written like that, so I've adopted it. I _try_ not to, but it's become natural after archiving around 75,000 words in that style.

Thanks for reviews and alerts :)

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**02 - One Person**

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"What about this one?" Said Kaoru, who held up some ridiculous frilly outfit.

Haruhi deadpanned and ignored him. "We're supposed to be studying. I am not dressing up." She told them in a tone that vouched no relent.

Hikaru and Kaoru shared a glance and both realised they could try again later.

"Why didn't the boss come?" Hikaru voiced from his seat on the floor.

Haruhi shrugged. "Not sure, he just didn't turn up."

The twins had invited the Club over to their mansion to do some studying. Or that was the idea they gave everyone, having planned a day of fun without stress, but since only Haruhi had turned up, they had decided to try and dress her up. But she was firm about being over to study.

"So Haruhi, do you want us to finish answering your question?" Kaoru asked unexpectantly. Hikaru shot a glance at his brother, his expression curious.

She glanced up, her mouth slightly agape as she took in his question. "Oh yeah, sure." She answered eagerly, once she understood what he was talking about.

"Well you haven't met our parents, but I'm sure you can tell that they aren't around very often." Kaoru began. He placed away the last garment he had been showing off and came to sit beside Hikaru.

Haruhi nodded. "Yeah."

"We were on our own, _a lot._" Hikaru told her bluntly.

She nodded again to show she understood. Personally, she couldn't relate, after remembering her mother and still having her dad around to help. But she had learnt that a lot of the Ouran kids were in the same situation as the twins. She also recalled them telling her parts of their childhood in Karuizawa.

"You see Haruhi, before we joined the Club; everyone thought we were the same person. It didn't help that we were always together, I guess in our own way we blurred the lines so others couldn't tell." Kaoru explained. "In our own minds, we had always known that there were two of us." He paused, allowing her to grasp what he had said so far.

She nodded, her glance shifting from each twin as she listened. Hikaru's face, unusually, was set in a passive mask so she couldn't decipher his feelings. However Kaoru wasn't bothering to hide his emotion, as she watched he was flicking between sadness and even shame.

"From since we can remember, people have always wanted to be close to us because of our name and money." The younger Hitachiin let his face rest against his palm as he gazed absently out of the window. "There was one person, who didn't treat us like that. I guess since we were children, it affected us more than it would now." He turned his gleaming amber eyes on her and smiled slyly. "You know how mischievous we are, part of that probably came from her influence."

Seeing the looming question in her eyes, Hikaru cut in. "She was the maid assigned to look after us."

Blinking, Haruhi frowned. "Wait a minute, you both mock me for being a commoner, but you're saying you actually liked the maid who looked after you?"

"We were _kids_ Haruhi." Hikaru drawled.

"Yeah, and we do like you too, despite being a commoner." Kaoru added.

Ignoring the small flair of anger, Haruhi settled herself. "Alright, so what happened?"

There was a flicker of uncertainty across Kaoru's face as his eyes darted to his brother's. An unspoken message passed between them.

"We really cared for her and we didn't trust anyone except each other." Kaoru began. "And then one night she betrayed us, stole some money and left."

Without giving her room to comment, Hikaru launched into his side of the story. "After that we thought never to trust anyone again, as you could understand. So that's how we became so enclosed."

Kaoru let out a short breath, his voice lowered. "Since we didn't want anyone else around us, we cared less and less what anyone thought. In the end, I guess we became so cruel and mean. We really weren't good people."

Haruhi was startled by the seriousness in both boys' tone. Neither were making eye contact with her and she could see the defeated posture of each. The twins, she decided, suddenly lacked the spark of humour or enthusiasm as they told her their tale. They were even up to admitting their own faults. It was a confronting sight.

"That can't be it." She stated. "You said you changed, so how did it happen?"

The twins looked up and the slightest of smiles formed on their faces.

"You're right." Kaoru told her. "The boss suddenly turned up one day during our second year of Middle school and more or less knocked us on the heads."

Hikaru laughed. "He's still the same, his optimism was almost stifling, but I guess it worked."

"We weren't too keen on joining the Host Club, but eventually we thought, 'why not?'" Kaoru's hand unconsciously reached out to brush against his brother's. "I mean, sure the boss was an idiot and still is, but he had the right idea. Without him we would still be the same."

"We have a lot to thank him for." Hikaru voiced quietly.

Haruhi smiled at the two. "Well I know I like you two a lot better now, compared to how you used to be."

The twins grinned at that and silence fell amongst the trio.

Idly glancing at her watch, Haruhi missed the exchange between the brothers. When she looked up, Hikaru and Kaoru both sported wicked expressions that meant something was going to happen to her.

"Please no." Was all she could say, before Hikaru grasped her arms to stop her from running, and Kaoru leapt up to get the outfit they had previously shown.

Ordering her to change in the room attached, (conveniently without a door for her to escape), or else threatening to do it for her, she had no choice but to obey them.

"After all, we did just tell you something no one else knows about." Kaoru called out, hoping to dampen her anger.

They both smirked as they could hear her grumbling about 'stupid rich twins' and other phrases.

Knowing it would take a few minutes for her to manage the clasp on the back of the dress, Kaoru turned to his brother. "I didn't think she needed to know about our game." He said quietly.

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, we don't know how she would react. We can always tell her later."

Nodding, they silently agreed.

Sighing loudly, Hikaru leant against the door frame. "Haruhi hurry up, it doesn't take that long." He called out.

"Then why don't you put it on Hikaru?" She demanded.

The twins smiled at her simple statement that told the two apart.

And then the door opened. Haruhi wore the dress, but unfortunately she looked ready to kill them.

Their smiles vanished.

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**A/N:**

There is a plot here... I just have to build to it first, or else it wouldn't really make sense for the anime.

- Mae.


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